Action Alert Network

Contact Congress

Successful social movements work and organize on several levels. We have
to organize those in our communities against the war but we also have to
pressure our government to act on our demands. Members of Congress repesent
us within the government, and as constituents they are accountable to us;
they also have the power to end these wars now, we must push them to act
now.

Congress doesn't move as quickly as we want them to and they also have
to hear from us to know what their constituents expect and demand from
them. They have power to end this war so we must leverage our collective
power and demand that they act now to end the war. It isn't always exciting
(but it can be), but it's necessary work that we must do to end the war
and stop the militarism of our schools.

Sign up for our weekly
email alerts to receive info on new bills, national call-in days
and when good and bad bills are coming up for a vote so that you
can call your members, in addition to other organizing resources
and updates.

Find out more about your legislators!

Check out your Senators and Representatives individual
websites to see their position on issues and what committees they work
on. There you can also send them letters and messages directly.

Call your member today!

Call 202-224-3121, which is the congressional switchboard, and from there
they can direct your call to your member's office (Representative
or Senators) by their name or your zip code. The
receptionists keep a tally of calls on different issues, for and
against, so whomever answers tell them your name, that you're a constituent,
and that you have a concern about X (ex. the war in Iraq) and want
Representative/Senator Y to support (or oppose) a piece of legislation
(name or bill number) that will (whatever it does to resolve that
concern). You can also ask where your member stands on that issue,
if they haven't taken a stance on the issue yet, and if they've signed
onto any related bills yet. The
fun way to do this: have
a call-in day! Set up a table in front of the student union, in the
cafeteria at lunch time, or at a community center during a busy time.
Ask for a couple of people to donate the use of their cell phones
for an hour or two so that people can call offices and pressure your
local representative on how they will vote on an upcoming bill or
sponsor a particular piece of legislation. Ask for a definite yes
or no answer, and if that's impossible request a detailed response
in writing of their position and reasoning to support or oppose something.
Even 5 calls can make a difference on how your
member votes. For mass or frequent call-ins you can find the direct
and local lines to members offices here.

Write letters to your members!

Different types of correspondence with Congress have varying levels of
impact. Phone calls are great right before a vote and to consistently
put pressure on your members to move and act. Letters, real life letters
sent in the mail with a stamp or faxed to the office, receive greater recognition
because they take more effort and time than a phone call or email.
Good for bringing up an issue, asking for cosponsorship on a bill (a long
process in the House of Representatives, bills usually won't come up for
a vote until they have a lot of cosponsors and support for the bill, but
with Senate bills cosponsorship isn't as important), demanding action or
introduction of a bill. Include info on why it is important to people in
your community/school/other constituents. Ask for a response on their stance. Less
boring: have
people handwrite letters during or after an event (ex. open mic,
lecture, workshop) to the members representing your school/community/area
and fax, mail or hand deliver the stack of letters to your member's office
requesting a response and that they take action on this issue.

Meet your Members of Congress (this is what democracy looks like)!

It's important to meet face to face with the people who are supposed to
represent you in Congress, especially if you don't see eye to eye!
Meeting and making relationships with your members of Congress and
their staff help push them on your issues and let them know their
constituents are really concerned and expect them to act. Your Representative
and your Senators have offices in DC, but they also have them in
their districts near you. Check out www.congress.org to
find the office closest to you.